Fan casing



Aug. 4, 1959 R. L. HULL FAN CASING Filed May l5, 1957 INVENTOR Rickard f ATTORNEY mix B A l MMOWMAISWLJ RW United States Patent O FAN CASING Richard L. Hull, Davenport, Iowa, assignor to American Machine and Metals, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Y lApplication May 13, |1957, Serial No. 658,601

3 Claims. (Cl. 2310-117) This invention relates to fan casings, and particularly to a split fan casing in which the fan wheel, motor shaft, and motor can be readily removed.

In order -to prevent the deterioration of a fan motor in a fan unit for moving destructive fumes or fluids, the hollow tubular casing of the unit has a walled aperture therethrough, the gas passing through duct means on either side of the aperture, `the `fan blades bein-g loca-ted in the path of the gas stream before or after it splits to go through the ducts on the `sides of the aperture. Inl this type of unit, the motor is mounted in the aperture so that it is segregated from the fluids orfumes traveling through the unit. In such a unit one of the major diiculties encountered is the easy removal and replacement of the fan Wheel and the motor shaft from the unit.

It is an object of this invention to provide means permitting the easy removal of Ithe fan wheel, the motor shaft, and the motor without permitting the fluid flowing through the unit to contact the motor.

The fan unit provided according to this invention includes a hollow tubular casing with a walled aperture therethrough for receiving `a fan motor therein. One end of the aperture has a slot which communicates with the interior of the casing and extends to the side of the casing. A shaft is connected at one end to the motor and is rotated by the motor. Said shaft extends through the slot and into the interiorof the casing and has a fanwheel connected to its other end which is rotatable with the shaft. A removable wall portion is provided for the casing. The integral shaft, fan blades and motor are removable from the casing by radial movement of the shaft in the slot when the wall portion has been removed.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and drawings which are merely exemplary.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a fan unit embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the fan unit with the removable wall portion and the motor unit removed therefrom; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective -view of the removable wall portion.

As shown in Fig. 1, the fan unit'draws uid in at intake passage 10, through passages 11 and 12, and `out outlet passage 13. The unit is formed so that there is a central aperture, or chamber 14, segregated from passages 11 and 12 in which a motor 15 is adapted to be mounted, in any suitable manner. Wall 16 extending from one side of the unit to the other and around the inside of passages 11 and 12 segregates the interior of the aperture and the motor from the uid flow. In itspreferred form, the unit has an extension 17, cylindrical in shape, which extends upwardly rom the chamber and is wholly within outlet passage 13. A `slot 18 extends outwardly from a central aperture 18a, shown partly in dotted lines in Fig.

a l'assurant Patented Aug. 4, 1959 2, to the outer circtunferen-tial edge of the tube extension 17, then downwardly on one side of extension 17, and then outwardly to an outer top edge of aperture 14. The -drive shaft 19 which connects motor 15 and a fan wheel 20 extends from the chamber 14 into extension 17 and into the outlet passage 13 through opening 18a. It tis clear, of course, that extension 17 may be omitted if desired and the slot formed entirely in the upper surface 32 of aperture 14.

The casing 21 has a central portion which is generally cylindrical in shape and two end portions which are in the form of truncated cones. The upper cone has a removable wall portion 22 formed with anges 23, 24, 25 and 26 adapted to be attached to anges 27, 28, 29 and 30, respectively, of the casing 21, in any conventional manner. The wall portion 22 also has a flanged arcuate cutout portion 31 which is connected to upper arcuate wall, or surface 32 of wall portion 16. When :the motor shaft and the fan wheel are in operative position, with `the shaft in opening 18a, the remainder `of slot 18 should be closed in order to eliminate the possibility of having uid entering aperture 14 through the slot. As shown in Fig. 3, this is accomplished by a plate 33, which extends inwardly frorn wall portion 22, and is shaped so yas to cover all of slot 18 except for opening 13a.' Opening 18a is formed by an arcuate edge 34 in one end of plate 33 and the arcuate end of slot 18.

Thus, it can be seen that by removing wall portion 22 and releasing motor 15 from its mounting in aperture 14, the motor 15, shaft 19 and fan wheel 20 may be removed as a unit from the fan casing 21. When the wall portion is in position on casing 21, however, the motor is segregated from the uid owing through the fan unit.

The invention provides a fan unit which is `simple and economical to produce, and in which the parts which require service, i.e., the motor, lthe shaft and the Ifan wheel, can be removed, repaired and replaced. A fan and motor also can be provided (not shown) at both ends of the casing.

It is to be understood that details of construction can be varied without departing from the spirit of .the invention except as defined in the appended claims.

. What is claimed is:

l. In a fan unit having a hollow tubular casing with a walled aperture therethrough for receiving a fan motor therein, a slot in one end of said aperture communicating with the interior of said casing and extending to the side of said casing, a shaft connected at one end to said motor and rotatable thereby, said shaft extending through said slot and into the interior of said casing, a fan Wheel connected to the other end of said shaft and rotatable therewith, and a removable wall portion for said casing having means thereon closing at least a portion of said slot when said wall portion is connected to said casing, said shaft and said fan blades being removable from said casing by radial movement of said shaft in said slot when said wall portion is removed.

2. In a fan unit having a hollow tubular casing with a walled aperture therethrough for receiving a fan motor therein, a slot in one end of said aperture communicating with the interior of said casing and extending to one side of said casing, a shaft connected at one end to said motor and rotatable thereby, said shaft extending through said slot 'and into the yinterior of said casing, a fan wheel connected to the other end of said shaft and rotatable therewith, and a removable wall portion for said casing having a radially extending plate thereon adapted to close at least a portion of said slot, said shaft and said fan blades being removable from said casing by radial movement of said shaft in said slot when said Wall portion and plate are removed. i

3. In a fan unit having a hollow tubular casing with `a Walled aperture therethrough for receiving a fan motor therein, a cylindrical extension at one end of said aperture extending into one end of said casing, a slot communicating With the interior of said casing at said one end and extending to one side of said casing, a shaft con nected at one end `to said motor and rotatable thereby, said shaft extending into said extension, through `said slot and into the interior of said casing at saidv one end thereof, a fan wheel connected to the other end of said shaft and rotatable therewith, and a removable wall portion at said one end of said casing having means thereon closing References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,702,632 Bothezat Feb. 19, 1929 2,419,962 McLarty May 6, 1947 2,494,772 McElroy Jan. 17, 1950 

